Volume 2

At the Baths 267
a circle, and at times exchanging places with newcomers
to whom He repeated the substance of His last discourse.
I saw some gouty invalids moving slowly about. They
were mostly government officials and officers who were
enjoying a vacation. I recognized them by the uniforms
they wore when leaving for their different garrisons
around the country. During their stay at the baths, all
were dressed alike with nothing to distinguish them from
other people. The men wore fine, yellow woollen stuff
made into tunics of four separate skirts, one above the
other, the lower one wrapped into a kind of trousers
down to the knees; some went barefoot, others wore sandals.
The upper part of the body was covered with a
scapular open at the sides and bound at the waist by a
broad girdle. The shoulders were covered with an
armflap that reached halfway to the elbow; the head was
uncovered. They played at games, fighting with little
sticks and armed with shields made of leaves. They attacked
one another in rows and also singly, aiming at
pushing their opponents from their places. They ran
toward a goal for a wager, jumped over ropes, sprang
through hoops upon which all sorts of glittering things
were hanging. These they were not to touch in passing
through, otherwise they tinkled and fell off. The contestant
for the prize lost in proportion to the number thus
displaced. The prizes consisted of fruit which I saw lying
ready for the winners. I saw some playing on reed flutes;
others had long, thick reeds through which they gazed
into the distance and into the lake. Sometimes they blew
balls or little arrows through them, as if they were shooting
after fishes. I saw that these reeds were flexible; they
could be bent to fornl a ring and then hung on the arm. I
saw them also sticking glass globes of different colors on
the ends of the reeds and waving them to and fro, thus
reflecting the light of the sun. The whole landscape was
mirrored in the globes, but in an inverted position. When